Apparatus for treating liquids



May 2, 1950 c. s. SALVESEN APPARATUS FOR TREATING LIQUIDS Filed June 24, 1947 .1 wag? fi 5 CHAFQLES saw/555w IN VEN TOR.

Patented May 2, 1950 UNHLED STATES. WiilENT' OFF ICE.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING LIQUIDS Charles S. Sal-vesen, West Englewood, N. J., as-

signor to The Permutit Company, New: York,

N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Applicationdune 24, 1947; SerialNo. 756,639

6 Claims. 1.

This invention relates to apparatus for treatingliquids by passage through a bed of granular contact material. It is more particularly directed to determining'the quantity of such contact material in the bed, all as more fully de scribed and as claimed hereinafter.

This invention is an improvement on an apparatus such as thatdisclosed in U. S. Patent 2,259,717 of Egon Zentner dated October 21, 1941, for Process of softening water. In such process, water and a solution of suitable chemicals, such as lime, are mixed and passedupwardly through a, conically shaped tank containing finely granular contact material. During such flow the hardness-forming constituents in the water are usually precipitated as calcium, carbonate, and such calcium carbonate is precipitated or crystallized onto the granules of the contact material without cementing these granules together. As the process of softening water proceeds, the granules become larger by reason of the matter precipitated or crystallized thereon, and when they become too large to be satisfactory for further use, they are removed and the tank is re-charged with fine granular material. It has been found advantageous to remove from time to time merely a portion of the enlarged contact material, and replace it by a smaller quantity of new contact material of smaller grain size, rather than to remove and replace all the old contact material as a batch.

In order to assure satisfactory functioning of the water softening process, it is necessary that there be not less than a minimum quantity of granular contact material present so as to insure sufiicienttime of contactfor effectiv precipitae tion of the hardness from the water. On the other hand, itis also important that the contact material be not allowed to grow to suchextent that it would fill the entire tank, it being desirable to have a rising space above the granular contact material.

It is the object of this invention to provide convenient and effective means permitting the operator to maintain the top of the bed of granular contact material between predetermined up-- per and lower limits.

The manner in which this object is achieved is shown in the appended drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational yiew partly in cross-section along line I! of Fig. 2, of a water soften- 111g apparatus in which my invention is incorporated;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of theapparatus of Fig. 1 with aportion of the top roken away; and

Fig. 3 isa fragmentary view, on an enlarged the several views;

As shown in Fig. l, the apparatus comprises a tank 16 which has a lower conical portion and an;

upper cylindrical portion. As-an alternative, the:

entire tank maybe ofconical shape as shown in said Zentner Patent 2,259,717. Attachedto the bottom of the tank is a fitting il to which are" connected an inlet 42 for water to be-softened; an inlet it for chemical solution and a drain l4 provided with a valve l5. Attached to the top of the tank l0 is a fitting it provided with a.

removable plug it, and to whichis connected an outlet t? for softened water. Within tank I0 is a bed l9 of granular contact material which: may be marble, dolomite, gravel, sand, alkaline earth phosphate, or the like.

Within the tank Ill is a body 20 with acylindrical bore 2i extending through its entire length and provided with an upper p0rt22 and --a lower port 23, both extending through the wall of body 29 into the bore 2!. The body 29 is also provided. at its upper end with a flange- M and at its .lower:

end with a flange 25.

i To the flange 25 1s attached a'cap 21 by means of screws 28, and attached to flange 25 is an.- other flange 3?] by means of screws 31. Intothe flange 3Bis screwed a pipe 32which is welded into, the conical portion of tank It] as shown at 33 in.

Fig. l. The lower end of pipe 32 projecting to the outside of the'tank terminates in a coupling,

34 into which isscrewed. a.hollow closure 35. i Within the bore 2.! is .a loosely fitted rotort35 which has a central passage 3]. In the rotor 35;

are provided an upperport 38;. and a lower ports:

35 in the horizontal lplanesof ports 22 and 23-, respectively, and: opening into the central pa s... sage 3?. Ports i8 and 39, however, are in dire ferent vertical planes, being offset from each other by an angl which, in the example 111111.15,-

trated, is one hundred and eighty degrees. The:

ports 22 and 23 are round, and the ports 38 and,

39 are advantageously either round but of slightlylarger diameter than ports 22 and 23, or of oval shape, as shown in Fig. v3, thereby obviating the? need for accurate alignment of the rotor 36 with, the body 29.

A stud do is secured to the upper portion of rotor 36 by meansof a pin 4! and passes to the outside of cap 2? through a packinggland con sisting of a, packing 42, a follower ring4l3, a wash:- er at, and nuts held in plaqebya cotter pin In order to limit the rotary movement of the rotor 33, in this case to ninety degrees in either direction from the neutral position shown in Fig. 3, there is provided a projection 41 on the rotor which, upon movement through ninety degrees in either direction, comes up against a stationary stop 46 integral with the cap 21.

Secured to the lower end of the rotor 31 by means of a screw thread and two short pins is a pipe 56 which is in communication with the central passage 3i and extends downwardly into and beyond the end of pipe 32 through the hollow closure 35, a stuiling box being provided by a packing 52, a gland es and a lock nut 54. The lower portion of pipe 5% is retained in a steadying bearing 56 which, by means of screws 51, is secured to a bracket welded to the tank ill. Near the end of pipe 5i there is provided therein a valve 59.

A handle St is secured to the pipe 5% by means of a set screw 5! to permit rotation of pipe 56, and with it the rotor 35, within the limits provided by the pro ection 4'1 and the stationary stop 48.

In operation of the apparatus water and chemical solution enter through pipes l2 and it, how upwardly through the bed i9 of granular contact material and the softened water passes to a point of use via fitting i6 and pipe 5?. The body it is so located within the tank that the elevation of ports 22 and 23 coincides with what is considered the desirable maximum and minimum level of contact material.

As operation of the device continues the granules in the bed it grow so that their upper level rises. The operator may readily ascertain at any time when they have built up to the desirable upper level by rotating the handle 6% in a counterclockwise direction (when looking downwardly) through an angle of ninety degrees. This brings port 38 into registry with port 22, and upon opening valve 59, a discharge from the in terior of tank ill takes place through pipe 59. When this discharge is merely water the operator knows that the granular material has not as yet built up to the level of port 22. On the other hand, when the discharge is a mixture of water and granules he knows that the upper level has been reached. He thereupon opens valve to to discharge through the drain It the coarsest granular material which is near the bottom of tank II].

To determine when sufficient granular material hasbeen discharged through valve iii and drain pipe it, the operator merely needs to turn the handle 69 clockwise through an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees, 1. e. ninety degrees in a clockwise direction from the neutral position.

shown in the drawings. This brings port 39 into registry with port 23. When the discharge through pipe 50 is a mixture of water and granules, this indicates that the contact material is still above the desired minimum level. When the discharge is only water, this indicates that the desired low level has been reached. Thereupo'n, the handle 68 is returned to the neutral position shown in the drawings, and valves i5 and 59 are closed. A relatively small amount of fresh contact material of finer grain size may then be added to the bed l9 through the fitting it upon removal of the plug I8.

It is important whenever operating this device that the rotor 33 be turned to its neutral position in which both its ports 38 and 39 are out of registry with the stationary ports 22 and 23 respectively, before the valve 59 is closed. The leakage past the loosely fitting rotor then causes all granular material within the central passage is? and the pipe 50 to be flushed out. If this is not done and granular material is allowed to stand within these passages, it will become packed so that when the valve 59 is opened, no discharge of granular material takes place. However, by following the foregoing precaution, granular material can only enter into the relatively shallow ports 22 and 23 during standing and such small amounts are readily flushed from said ports as soon as flow is established by appropriate turning of the rotor 35 and opening of valve 59.

If the rotor 36 were made so as to fit tightly against the ports 22 and 23, there would be no leakage past the rotor when it is in its neutral position, and valve 59 could then be omitted. I f nd it more advantageous, however, to make the rotor loosely fitting, as described above, and to provide a shutofi valve 59 in pipe 5i].

My device is, of course, not restricted to use When it is desired merely to ascertain whether the contact material is above or below a given level, only a single port need be provided in the body and the rotor. On the other hand, three or more corresponding pairs of ports may be provided in the body and the rotor at different.

levels, those in the rotor being arranged in different vertical planes, e. g. 45 or 60 degrees apart,

when it is desired to sample the bed of contact material at three or more difierent elevations. To move the ports into and out of registry,

the rotor 36 could be modified so as to be axially shiitable in which case, a single rotor port could be moved into registry with either of the two body ports. movement is preferable.

While I have shown and described what I consider the preferred form of my invention, n1odifi-' cations may be made without departing from" the spirit of my invention and reference is, there-' fore, made to the appended claims for a definition of the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus for treating liquids comprising a tank containing granular contact material, a stationary hollow cylindrical member located within said tank, a port in said stationary member, a rotatable member within said stationary member, a port in said rotatable member, a tubu-' lar member connected with said rotatable member in communication with said last named port and extending to the outside of said tank, and operating means mounted on said tubular member on the outside of said tank for rotating said tubular member and with it said rotatable mem-' ber so as to bring said last named port alternately into and out of registry with said first named tlonary member, a pair of ports in said rotatable" However, I find that rotational member, one of said last named ports being located in the same horizontal plane as one of said first named ports and the other of said last named ports being located in the same horizontal plane as the other of said first named ports, said ports of one of said pairs being located in difierent vertical planes, a tubular member connected with said rotatable member in communication with both said ports in said rotatable member, said tubular member extending to the outside of said tank, and operating means on said tubular member on the outside of said tank for rotating said tubular member and with it said rotatable member.

4. In the apparatus of claim 3, a projection on said rotatable member, and a stationar step for limiting the rotational movement of said rotatable member.

5. In apparatus for treating liquids comprising a tank containing granular contact material, a stationary hollow cylindrical member located Within said tank With its axis in a vertical plane, a pair of vertically spaced ports in said stationary member, a rotatable member loosely fitted within said stationary member, a pair of ports in said rotatable member, one of said last named ports being located in the same horizontal plane as one of said first named ports and the other of said last named ports being located in the same horizontal plane as the other of said first named ports, said ports of one of said pairs being located in difierent vertical planes, a tubular member connected with said rotatable member in communication with both said ports in said rotatable member, said tubular member extending to the outside of said tank, operating means on said tubular member on the outside of said tank for rotating said tubular member and with it said rotatable member, and a shut-off valve on said tubular member on the outside of said tank.

6. In apparatus for treating liquids comprising a tank containing granular contact material, a stationary hollow cylindrical member located within said tank with its axis in a vertical plane, two vertically spaced ports in sai stationary member. a rotatable member within said stationary member, a central passage in said rotatable member, two ports in said rotatable member opening into said central passage, one of said last ports being located in the same horizontal plane as one of said first named ports and the other of said last named ports being located in the same horizontal plane as the other of said first named ports, said ports in said rotatable member being located in different vertical planes, a tubular member connected with said rotatable member and in communication with said central passage, said tubular member extending to the outside of said tank, and operating means on said tubular member on the outside of said tank for rotating said tubular member and with it said rotatable member.

CHARLES S. SALVESEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,163,451 Polmann Dec. '1', 1915 2,240,182 Guldner, J12, et a1. Apr. 29, 1941 2,259,717 Zentner Oct. 21, 1941 2,355,069 Green Aug. 8, 1944 2,365,293 Robinson Dec. 19', 1944 

